Since the 1990’s, there has been a significant increase of transgenderism in the public domain. Increased media visibility with multiple reports on a variety of issues have surfaced, from questions of choice, normality, transidentity to name only a few. These have been discussed … [Read more...]
When a Given Name No Longer Fits the Person You Have Become: Thoughts on a Recent Episode of Out in the Open with Piya Chattopadhyay
As I have written in previous blogs, there are people who choose to change their name for a variety of reasons. Some people select a new name for entertainment and commercial purposes, such as pennames, pseudonyms or even mononyms; some for political purposes in response to … [Read more...]
The Sound of Our Name
A birth. A breath. A cry of being. Following this, an act of nomination and a new name that will identify the newborn as a unique individual. Generative language is the distinctive characteristic of our species; and the act of naming separates us from the rest of the animal … [Read more...]
When a Culture is No Longer Inclusive: Name-Changing and the Unfortunate Compulsion to Lie About Who We Are
Our name is like an elongated shadow attached at our heels. A tenacious sign of identification, it is intimately connected with our identification. While our first name is given to us lovingly and tenderly by our parents (or parent surrogates), our surname connects us to our … [Read more...]
My Interview with Joseph Planta at thecommentary.ca
Since 2004, Joseph Planta from Vancouver has been interviewing artists, writers, academics and professionals from a wide variety of fields on his online show, The Commentary. I was delighted to have had this interesting radio interview with him on various aspects of my new book, … [Read more...]